Clothes-pin.



F. H PERRY.-

GLOTHES PIN.

APPLIOATION'IIILED nov. so, 190a.

Patented Aug: 3 1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK H. PERRY, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLOTHES-PIN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FnnnEnIoK ll. PERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Beverly, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Clothes Pins, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is aspecification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to clothes pins and especially to clothes pins ofthe type shown in my Patent No. 880,819. The clothes pin illustrated insaid patent comprises two legs which are made of separate pieces of woodand which are tied together at their head ends by abinder, said legsbeing formed with abutting faces at the head end where the binder isapplied and being reduced. in thickness intermediate their ends to givethem the required resiliency, said legs also being shaped at their freeends to present a line space. While a single binder such as shown insaid patent is sufficient to hold the logs from spreading apart, yetwhere the two legs are held together at one point only, the free endsthereof are apt to be twisted out of correct alinement with each otherin a direction parallel to the line space. This might be prevented byplacing two binders on the head, one above the other or by fastening thetwo legs together at two different points, but such an expedientinvolves additional exense.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novelconstruction of clothes pin by which the free ends thereof are preventedfrom being thrown out of alinement with each other in the direction ofthe length of the line space, and which does not involve any additionalexpense in its manufacture. My preferred way of accomplishing thisobject is by providing means situated between the abutting faces of thelegs which will prevent the undesirable twisting movement of one legrelative to the other, and one convenient way is to make said abuttingfaces of such a shapethat they will interlock with each other.

Referring now to the drawings wherein some embodiments of my inventionare shown, Figure 1 is a side view of a clothes pin embodying theinvention; Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof; Fig. 3 is a top plan View;Fig. 4 is a side view of a clothes pin showing a modification; Fig. 5 isa section on the line .t9c, Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an end view of stillSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 30, 1908.

Patented Aug. 3, 1909.

Serial No. 465,06.

another form of clothes pin embodying the invention; Fig. 7 is a sectionon the line y-y, Fig. 6.

The two legs or pieces of which the clothes pin is made are designatedby 3 and i rospectively. These-legs are sl'iaped to present abuttingfaces at the head end of the clothes pin, are reduced in thicknessintermediate their ends as at 5, are provided with the inwardly-directedstops 6, and are shaped at their lower ends to present a line space 7.The two are tied together at the head of the clothes pin by a singlefastening means which. may be a binder in the form of a wire 8 that iswrapped tightly around the two parts, as shown in Figs. 1. to 4., or maybe binder in the form of a pin or rivet 30 that passes through the twoparts, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7. A clothes pin having the wire binder 8is shown in my above-mentioned patent.

As stated above while a single hinder or fastening means is suzllicientto hold the two parts of the clothes pin together, yet it does notalways prevent the free ends of the logs from being twisted out of linewith each other in the direction of the length of the line space 7. pinin which the two legs will always be maintained in proper alinenient, Ipropose to make the abutting faces of the legs 3 and 4 of such shapethat they interlock with each other. This can conveniently be done bymaking one abutting face witha groove in which a tongue on the otherabutting face enters, said tongue and groove running in the direction ofthe pin. If a single tongue and groove are employed, however, the twosides of the clothes pin will be in the nature of rights and lofts, thatis, a part with. a groove must always be associated with a part with atongue. In order to make the two legs oxactly alike so that there willbe no rights and lefts and so that any leg may be used with any otherleg, I propose to make the tongue and groove of the shape shown in Fig.3 wherein the abutting face of each member has two tongues 9 and twogrooves 10. The tongues and grooves are so arranged that on one side ofeach leg a groove is situated and on the opposite side a tongue. Sincethe two legs 3 and 4 are exactly similar, any two legs can be usedtogether and the abutting faces will always fit each other. The tonguesand grooves run in the direction of the length of the clothes pin andtherefore they prevent In order to produce a clothes the free ends ofthe clothes pin from being thrown out of alinement with each other.

While making the. abutting faces at the upper ends of the clothes pin ofsuch a shape that they are interlocked with each other is usuallysufficient to hold the two legs in alinement, yet I may if desired makethe meeting faces of the stops 6 so that they will interlock with eachother as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 wherein each of the stops is providedwith grooves 10 in which tongues or ribs 9 on the other part arereceived. I propose also to make these tongues and grooves so that thearrangement of tongues and grooves on each leg is exactly like thatonthe other leg, as shown in Fig. 5. W here the abutting faces of thestops 6 are made to interlock as above described, an additional means isafforded. for preventing the free ends of the legs from being thrown outof alinement with each other. Inlieu of the tongue-and-groove arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 5, I may make each of the abutting faces witha groove 12 arranged to aline with the groove in the opposite abuttingface so that a locking strip 13 may be inserted into the alined grooves,as shown in Fig. 6. This construction also has the advantage that thetwo parts of the two legs are exactly alike and in assembling theclothes pin it is not necessary to select rights and lefts.

I have not shown herein all embodiments of my invention but theillustrations are suflicient to disclose the principle of the invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1 1. A clothes pin having two legs providedat their upper ends with abutting faces and shaped at their free ends topresent a line space, and means to secure the two legs toabutting facesin alinement, one of the abutting faces being provided with alongitudinally-extending groove to receive a tongue extending from theother abutting face.

3. A clothes pin having two legs provided at their upper ends withabutting faces and shaped at their free ends to present a line space,and means to secure the two legs to-.

gether at the head of the clothes pin with the abutting faces inalinement, said abutting faces having similarly-placedlongitudinallyextending tongues and grooves, the tongues on one facefitting the grooves 011 the other face. i

4. A clothes pin comprising two legs provided at their upper ends withabutting faces, sald legs being reduced 1n thlckness between the1r endsand provided with m 'wardly-extending stops and shaped at their lowerends to form a line space, and a binder tying together the legs at thehead of the clothes pin, the abutting faces of the two legs being shapedto interlock and the meeting faces of the stops being also shaped tointerlock with each other.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of 7 two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK H. PERRY.

.Witnesses;

Louis 0. SMITH, V FREDERICK S. GREENLEAF.

